Missions Catalyst

Missions Catalyst is a free, weekly electronic digest of mission news and resources designed to inspire and equip Christians worldwide for global ministry. Use it to fuel your prayers, find tips and opportunities, and stay in touch with how God is building his kingdom all over the world. Please forward it freely!

Like most ethnic Kyrgyz, [Dinara’s] Muslim family followed the religious traditions of their ancestors. From childhood she believed truth could only be revealed through Islam.

While running an errand in her village, Dinara came upon a strange sight – a gathering of Christians who were openly singing and preaching about their God. She stopped in her tracks when the speaker shared how Jesus Christ changes lives.

Consumed by worries over family quarrels, illness, and mounting debts, this wife and mother of two children longed for peace. She accepted the invitation to have someone pray for her needs.

Three days later Dinara sought the counsel of a Christian neighbor who attended the event, asking how she, too, could become a follower of Jesus.

Today Dinara is growing in her faith and enjoys attending a home Bible study. Her husband thinks she is merely visiting friends. Knowing he will be furious, she dares not tell him or any of their relatives about her conversion.

Identifying oneself as a Christian brings all sorts of challenges for new believers, who experience misunderstanding, ridicule, and in some cases even abandonment by families who feel they have scorned their very heritage.

UNICEF goodwill ambassador Mia Farrow (who recently returned from CAR), the UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide Adama Dieng, and other investigators warn that genocide is a real possibility. Please pray for the Church in CAR. May God intervene!

It was March 11, 2011 – the date of the triple disaster in northeast Japan. First, the 9.0 earthquake devastated the area and brought on other tragedies. In minutes, a tsunami claimed 20,000 lives and caused a meltdown at the Fukushima First Nuclear Reactor. A mandatory evacuation followed.

As pastor of Fukushima First Bible Baptist Church (just a few kilometers from the No. 1 reactor), Akira Sato shifted into survival mode, checking on members. Within weeks, his now-homeless congregation was invited to live in a Christian campground in west Tokyo, nearly 300 kilometers from their hometown. Roughly 70 of his 200 members moved to this camp; the rest of the survivors found safe haven with relatives all over Japan. Sato authored two books about his church’s experience.

Along with the retaining wall that fell with the tsunami, three other walls have broken down [says Sato]:

1. The wall separating church and community. Prior to the disaster, local churches were relatively unknown by most Japanese people. Some 99.5% of Japanese are not Christians. However, because churches and Christian volunteers stepped up to provide relief supplies and other assistance, they earned a tremendous reputation throughout the country.

2. The wall between churches and denominations. Denominations have set aside differences, banding together to meet needs in their communities. One church could not afford to purchase the land they were leasing, so three different denominations collectively raised the funds to purchase the property. The common pledge across the denominational spectrum is: “We commit to work together – not build walls between ourselves.”

3. The wall between Japan and the world. The global Church has rallied to Japan’s side following this horrific disaster. The resulting sense of community will continue for some time. The people of Japan are in awe, touched that Christian foreigners continue to give, come, and serve.

The destruction of these metaphorical walls coincides with a spiritual openness among Japanese people unseen since the end of World War II.

To say that Ellen Zaborsky is a fan of her church’s adopted people group is a bit of an understatement.

Sitting in the sanctuary of Unity Baptist Church in rural Prince George, Virginia, the retired ninth-grade science teacher is wrapped from head to toe in a vibrant pink cloak called a taseynest – traditional women’s wear among [a people group] in West Africa.

In 2009, Unity took responsibility to share the Gospel among those they call “the Hidden People,” a group of roughly 300,000 nomads who roam the West African desert. The church has since sent six short-term teams to their adopted people, and Zaborsky has aided every team – at least in spirit. Though her heart is firmly planted in West Africa, the 69-year-old won’t ever set foot there. A wheelchair and a heart condition have ensured that.

Fortunately, on this Sunday morning in early fall of 2013, a piece of West Africa has come to her.

Zaborsky listens intently as “Ibrahim,” the first known believer among the Hidden People, preaches a sermon to Unity’s congregation. It’s a surreal experience for many of Unity’s members, who, like Zaborsky, have been praying for the Hidden People for years.